


Deceptions

by Tim (boywonder)



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-17
Updated: 2011-02-17
Packaged: 2017-10-15 17:58:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/163393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boywonder/pseuds/Tim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If nothing else, the Chosen of Tethe'alla was a brilliant liar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deceptions

"Parents are supposed to _help_ their children, not fight them! Who the hell do you think you are!? Just because you ate some magic _rock_ , you think you can just let Lloyd commit suicide by fighting you?"

"That's enough, Zelos."

The redhead shook his head and glared and Kratos. "No it isn't. It will never be enough for what you're doing!"

"And what about you? You've been betraying them almost as long as I have."

"Yeah, well, _I'm_ not Lloyd's dad, am I?"

"This has nothing to do with you, Zelos. Do what you need to do to achieve your ends. You are no one to pass judgment on me," Kratos said, icily, turning his back on the redhead.

Zelos stormed over to the taller man and glared up at him. He'd never been good at knowing when to be afraid, and now was really no exception to that rule. Kratos could, in theory, crush him. But Zelos was confident that Cruxis still needed him. Not to mention how fishy it would seem if he all of a sudden turned up dead.

"Look, I'm only doing this because-"

"You're doing it because you think it will free you from your role of Chosen," Kratos interrupted, crossing his arms and looking down his nose at Zelos.

Zelos shrugged. "Well, it will, one way or another. But I took that stupid rock for the sword, didn't I?"

"The biggest difference between you and I, Zelos, is that you have never chosen a side."

"At least we can't say that betrayal was always my intent," he said. To him, it wasn't. He'd been gauging the sides the whole time, and while it was true that Cruxis seemed to be the strongest side, Lloyd really had some good points. In the end, he'd have to betray them, but it was the only way to do something really and truly useful for once.

Kratos shook his head, fed up with Zelos's presence as much as his words. "Go back to Lloyd, Zelos. They will suspect you if you stay gone for too long, and then neither of our plans will have meant anything."

Zelos rolled his eyes overdramatically at this. "Yeah, whatever," he said, and turned to walk off. Kratos watched him, still annoyed.

It was no shock to the older man when Zelos turned back around. It was in the redhead's nature to get the last word, and he would almost definitely insist on having it.

But Kratos did not expect what happened next. Zelos walked right up to him with his usual, overly self-assured look on his face, and leaned up, pushing his mouth against Kratos'.

Kratos was too stunned to even react to it for a minute. Zelos pulled away before the mercenary could push him off and stood, considering him.

"Zelos..." Kratos said, dangerously.

Zelos just shrugged and said nothing, but he didn't leave, either.

Kratos stared into the redhead's eyes for a moment. He could not quite read Zelos, and that in and of itself was maddening. If nothing else, the Chosen of Tethe'alla was a brilliant liar. His face betrayed nothing.

"What do you want, Zelos?" Kratos asked, talking from between his teeth.

Zelos shrugged again and put his hands behind his head as if he didn't have a care in the world. "I just wanted to see if you kissed as good as your _son_ does," he said.

Kratos could feel fury rise in him, and drew his sword faster than even Zelos could see, letting the side of the sharpened blade come up and rest _just_ on the redhead's neck.

"You will do well not to test me, _Zelos_ ," he spat.

Zelos held up his hands, as if he could somehow prove his innocence, though it was possible he was only mocking. In fact, it was _probable_.

"Kratos."

The word came from the doorway. Lord Yggdrasill's - Mithos's - voice. Kratos's eyes flicked over Zelos's shoulder for a second before coming back to the Chosen. He let the sword move, just a fraction, and watched a bead of blood form on Zelos's neck. To his merit, Zelos never flinched. He raised an eyebrow, daring Kratos to continue. Kratos idly wondered how long the redhead could continue the bluff. How much deeper would he have to push that blade for all of Zelos's lies to fall away? It would be more than a little satisfying to watch that cool facade break down, if only a little, if only for a moment. After all, Zelos hadn't undergone any "world regeneration" journey. He had some benefits of becoming whatever it was that Mithos called "angelic," but he could still _feel_.

" _Kratos._ "

The swordsman finally stepped back, at the word repeated in Mithos's voice, and he sheathed his sword again.

"I would suggest, Zelos Wilder, that you do not forget your _place_ ," he said, softly, dangerously.

"Yeah, yeah. Wouldn't want to crush myself under the weights of my _regrets_ like you, huh, old man?" Zelos said, reaching up and wiping the blood off his neck.

Kratos felt his jaw clench. His hand tightened on the hilt of his sword, but he did not draw it again.

Zelos's smirk returned and he finally turned away. He practically _sauntered_ out of the room, walking past Mithos without acknowledging him. Kratos watched Mithos's eyes narrow, but he didn't deign to respond. In Mithos's eyes, Zelos was just one more unimportant pawn, prejudiced against half-elves because of the race war that he himself had helped perpetuate over the past few thousand years; he was nothing, and did not matter.

Kratos wondered if Mithos had underestimated even Zelos. Unlikely as it seemed, Zelos had remained unpredictable up to that point. It wouldn't have _really_ shocked Kratos if the redhead did something to jeopardize everyone's plans, in the end. He didn't like the way Mithos continued to allow the Chosen of Tethe'alla to remain so unchecked. But then, there was very little about the way Mithos did anything anymore that he liked.

"Don't let him get to you," Mithos said, his words as soft as his features. Even in the adult form he now favored so much, he was the embodiment of deception. And even in that form, Kratos found himself falling prey to that deception, even embracing it.

"He isn't getting to me," he responded, annoyed.

"The blood on your sword says otherwise," Mithos said, and Kratos could have sworn he sounded _amused_.

"It is nothing. A misjudgment in force," Kratos said, offhand. The last thing in the world he wanted to talk about was Zelos Wilder, and certainly not with _Mithos_ , whose attitude could change in less than a heartbeat.

If Zelos was merely unpredictable, there was certainly not a strong enough word for Mithos's attitude. Kratos's mouth twitched at the thought of that.

"I'm not asking you, Kratos," Mithos said, and ice danced under his tone. "I'm _telling_ you. He will play his part, and it doesn't matter to me either way which part that is. He doesn't want to live, and I have no intentions of allowing him to."

Kratos crossed his arms. Death after death, all for no real reason. Even if one of those deaths was Zelos Wilder, he could not condone killing people so arbitrarily. Mithos, of course, was aware of Kratos's standpoint, and did not really care.

"Stay away from him," Mithos said, his eyes narrowing. His tone had gone entirely cold, now, and Kratos realized he was not going to stay. He had a moment where he wanted to reach out and pull him back. There was still part of him that loved the boy that Mithos had been, his _apprentice_. He had followed him this far for so many reasons, and the ones that mattered the most refused to lessen, even after all the wrongs he had suffered through.

Even after Anna's death, brought about because of Mithos's selfish delusions, he wanted to hold the boy in his arms and try to make them both remember why they'd stayed together, while Yuan had deserted them.

But he did not move, and he did not speak. Mithos turned and walked out of the room, leaving Kratos alone with his thoughts.

After a moment of debate as to what he would do next, he simply sighed. One hand rose to his mouth, where Zelos's lips had met his. Of all the things Zelos could have done, _that_ one made the least sense.

 _I wanted to see if you kissed as good as your son._

Kratos almost laughed at the thought. Whether Zelos had ever even actually kissed Lloyd wasn't the point, although the thought of it made him a little sick. It seemed that even he could be played, as any father probably could. He would have to remember to check himself better the next time he saw Lloyd.

"Damn you, Zelos," he said, softly, to the empty room, before he finally left it as well. The door couldn't have slammed hard enough for his liking.


End file.
